I upset my body

Hi @Neelix 🙂

I am really interested about the link between our mind and the rest of our body, for the reasons that you described - my body has sometimes pretty extreme reactions to things. I get shakes, the nausea stuff (I thought it was some kind of morning sickness without pregnancy before I saw it as 'anxiety'), racing heart, restless legs, tight chest (sometimes chest pain), lump in my throat, twitches, 'jolt' sort of feelings... the list goes on and on.

A while ago, I got right in to reading about somatics, and found sensorimotor psychotherapy stuff really interesting. Similarly, there is heaps of stuff out it there about trauma and how it is stored within the body. A few of us have read/are reading 'The Body Keeps the Score' which may interest you (or not, I'm not sure). I think you said you like reading in another thread - there's so much out there to read related to this topic if you want!

I'm also doing a yoga class to learn how to be more ok in my sometimes funky body, which again quite a few here do too. I find it has helped me.

Being curious about what's happening within my body, rather than fearful or trying to change it, has probably helped me find some acceptance with it. It's taken some work though.

Just wanted to say that I get it too and find the mind/body stuff pretty important to recognise.

@CheerBear I will look at that book yes I do like to read I've just come back from the library. Sensorimotor? not heard that word before...yep google for me. My doctor says to stay off google lol as I end up there when I've googled something with my body. Yoga sounds good. I've tried mindfulness but I can't sit still. I will google the book see if it's at my local library ...cheers

Hi again @Neelix.

I can relate to what you said about struggling to sit still, and how frustrating that can be with 'mindfulness' stuff. I had huge trouble swinging between 'need to move or do' and 'need to sit frozen' for a while (sometimes I still do, but it's probably less intense and long lasting than it was).

It helped me to work out ways to incorporate mindfulness into 'doing' activities. Things like walking and paying attention to the sounds/colours/textures/smells etc. Mindfulness when eating was another good one. I practiced it with a seriously delicious treat but taking very slow bites and paying attention to what was going on (all the same stuff with the walking). Mindfulness can be done anywhere with anything. Yoga helps me be more mindful of my internal experiences/sensations while being a bit less 'need to do', which has really helped me tolerate calm and still more.

I think it all takes some practice, and can be really frustrating in terms of actually practicing mindfulness, hearing it said so often, and the way it is suggested sometimes as if it is really, really easy for everyone to do.

Hope the library has a copy of The Body Keeps the Score for you, and that you find it interesting or helpful.

🙂

@CheerBear I will try to do the sounds etc while walking and food shopping. Aahh doing it while eating oh? cheers for the tip. Hmm...yep that makes sense to me. It will help my mind focus on the moment and ground me. I am going to try that....:)